


Unbelievable

by maybemochas



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Big Hero 6, Engaged Shallura, F/M, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-10
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-07 13:51:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8803327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maybemochas/pseuds/maybemochas
Summary: The Big Hero 6 AU that I didn't know I needed.A.k.a. Keith is hella smart, Shiro is the best dadbro in existence. Allura has too much shit on her hands. And The Voltron squad is amazing. Also floofy lion Baymax.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the hell that is me having free time. Enjoy!

It was a dark cold night in the City of Lions, just like any other. The streets were lit with the bright neon lights of advertising screens and the skyscrapers all shined with smaller yellow light from office windows. The sky was filled with different colors and designs of self powered koinobori.

For the most part, the city was bustling with the usual night life, with the exception of the smaller, quiet run down streets that were far from glamorous. It was in one of these said streets, littered with trash and worn out shops that distant shouts could be heard from a hidden alleyway.

Past the dull flickering of a yellow streetlight was the bright blue glow from a backdoor alley room filled with people cheering, all crowded around a clearing in the middle. In the center of the room, two small robots exchanged blows.

The larger robot deflected a blow from the smaller red robot with its shield before raising its sharp claw in attack. The red robot moved faster, landing a solid hit against its opponents face. The larger robot was thrown back momentarily and, seeing its chance, the red bot leapt into the air, ready to go in for the kill. Before it got the chance to attack, the larger robot grabbed its assailant by the leg, spinning it before throwing it down to the ground harshly.

The red robot skidded towards the edge of the ring, coming to a stop in front of the annoyed girl controlling it. She looked up through her pink bangs and frowned, glaring at the large cocky man on the other side of the ring. With a competitive focus, they both moved their bots back into a fighting stance before once again exchanging a series of blows against each other.

In the man’s moment of hesitation, the girl moved her red robot to the side to dodge before delivering a fatal blow to the larger robot, knocking it back in victory. The girl smirked and moved her robot in, claws up and ready to finish the job. Her robot’s claw shot forward, but was stopped when the larger robot suddenly lunged up and grabbed it with its free hand. From behind, the shielded hand shifted to reveal a sharp spinning blade.

It was over in less than a second as the blade mercilessly tore the red robot apart. The girl’s jaw fell and her eyes widened as the referee shouted over the crowd, passing by the betters who had already started to exchange money, “The winner! By total annihilation... Sendaaaak!

The man rose from the ground with a proud smirk on his face and shouted towards the crowd, “Who’s next? Who has the guts to step into the ring with little Sendak?” The man spun around and laughed as he watched the nervous faces of the potential _competitors_. Several people just backed away or shrunk down awkwardly. One man just stared and ripped the head off of his own robot, not even willing to be bothered.

The man continued to laugh before a small voice from the back of the crowd cut him off, “Can I try?” Sendak turned to see who the timid voice belonged to and the crowd split to reveal a older teenager who looked more than unsure of himself. He clutched a small, strange doll to his chest that Sendak figured was a beginner’s attempt at a “robot.”

The boy held out the robot with nervous pride as he exclaimed, “ I built it myself…” At that point the man couldn’t keep a straight face anymore and burst out laughing along with the rest of the people in the room. The boy shrunk in on himself and tugged lightly on his bright red jacket before the referee scoffed and shot him a look, “Beat it, kid. House rules. You gotta pay to play.”

The referee and just about everyone else in the room was prepared to move on and get back to starting a new fight when the boy’s eyes went wide and pulled out a crumpled wad of cash. “Oh uh… is this enough?”

Sendak chuckled and decided that he might as well have some fun with this and asked in a booming voice, “What’s your name kid?”

The boy looked up at the man with a hopeful look and choked out, “Keith. Keith Shirogane.” Picking up on the amusement of the audience, Sendak leaned forward, “Prepare your bot, _Zerogane_.”

With that said the two competitors quickly put their money on the tray held by the referee and placed down their bots, Keith’s bot sinking to the floor slightly. The referee stood to the side of the ring and lowered a Chinese umbrella between the bots as she exclaimed her usual banter, “Two bots enter, one bot leaves... Fighters ready?”

The room fell silent in anticipation as she looked between the two before shouting, “Fight!”  
Sendak threw his bot forward without a second of hesitation, spinning blade already prepared to tear Keith’s bot apart. Keith moved his bot forward and it shuffled towards Sendak’s bot slow and awkward. In one quick, practiced movement Sendak’s bot threw Keith’s into the air and cut at the joints, letting three separate pieces fall to the floor.

Keith dropped to the ground and looked at his bot in shock as the crowd burst into laughter. He looked up quickly and stammered out, “T-that was my first fight! Can I try again?”

The referee had already moved towards Sendak with the tray of money as he barked out, “No one likes a sore loser kid! Go home.” He reached towards the tray in smug pride but stopped when he heard Keith choke out, “I’ve got more money.”

Sendak looked at him, hunched over and blushing in embarrassment, holding out a large roll of cash. He smirked and in only a moment they had placed more money on the tray and were back in position.

The referee rolled her eyes and repeated the usual banter and most of the crowd was no longer interested, ready for Keith to get his ass handed to him again so they could move on to better fights.

As the umbrella lifted from the ring, the three pieces of the bot lurched and suddenly reassembled themselves back into robot form. Keith shifted before grinning and extending his controller to reveal a complex remote. “Megabot? Destroy.” The little yellow happy face rotated and was replaced with a red angry face with a low growl. The confidence written all over Sendak’s face was suddenly replaced with surprise and confusion.  
Keith’s bot spun towards Sendak’s bot with rapid speed, twisting and dodging Sendak’s attacks with ease. Panicking, Sendak looked between his controller and the ring trying in vain to land an attack on the nimble creation. The spinning blade of his large robot slammed down towards Keith’s, but Keith easily just separated the bot to dodge the attack with a look of unamused boredom.

The pieces of the robot quickly climbed up onto Sendak’s robot and wrapped themselves around its limbs, tearing them away from the body of the bot. Without arms to defend itself, Sendak’s bot was defenseless to protect itself as Keith’s bot reassembled and proceeded to land a series of blows to the other robot’s face and popping it off of the body cleanly merely leaving behind a few sparks.

Sendak’s robot fell to the ground as his jaw dropped and the room quickly filled with cheers from the excited crowd. Keith’s bot landed with ease before the face turned back to the now mockingly cute face and bowing towards the corpse of its enemy.

Keith chuckled and reached for the money on the tray held out by the shocked referee as he shook his head in pity, “No more little Sendak.”

Sendak looked between the robot and the smug man in front of him and shouted, “This… this isn’t possible!”

Keith continued to speak as he tucked the money into the pockets of his jacket and slipped on his fingerless gloves, “Hey, I'm just as surprised as you are. Beginner's luck. Do you want to go again….?”

Keith’s speech quickly died off as the man towered angrily above him. Next thing he knew, he was no longer in the room full of stunned viewers but being thrown against the cold wall of the alleyway.

Sendak yelled in his face and grabbed Keith’s robot before signaling to a group of men behind him and walking away, “Teach this kid a lesson.”

The men moved towards him menacingly as Keith sucked in a breath and looked for a way out, “Haha… C’mon guys we can talk about this.” Keith was one second away from picking between his fight or flight instincts before the familiar sound of a motorcycle could be heard.

Surprised by the sudden entrance of the bike speeding into the alleyway, the men jumped back as the man on the bike shouted, “Keith, get on!”

Keith let out a breath of relief before running towards the man and hopping on the bike, “Oh my god Shiro! Good timing.”

Shiro rolled his eyes and threw a helmet back at Keith before hightailing it the heck out of the alleyway. Keith grabbed onto Shiro’s waist with a startled yelp as the bike moved forward. He turned around to see Sendak looking back at them before laughing and realizing he still had Keith’s robot.

Pulling out his controller, Keith quickly switched the bot into fighter mode, winning a surprised screech from Sendak. And hey, if he got in a few hits on Sendak’s face before calling the robot back to him, Shiro didn’t need to know.

The two sped out of the alley as Shiro’s voice protectively called out to Keith behind him, “Are you ok?”

Keith chuckled and replied, “Yep.”

Unfazed, Shiro called back, “Are you hurt?”

Keith rolled his eyes, “Nope.”

Shiro growled and kept one hand and both eyes focused on driving the bike while he used the other to hit Keith with every syllable he ground out, “Then what the hell were you thinking?!”

Keith rubbed the sore spots that Shiro had hit and pouted as Shiro turned the bike around from an oncoming fence and sped through another alley. Clearly not satisfied, Shiro shot a look back at Keith and continued to lecture, “You graduated from high school at thirteen, got into college at fifteen and while I respected and completely understood why you left that hell called Garrison Academy, _this_ is what you decide to do?”

Keith looked in front of them and felt his eyes widen as his tapped Shiro’s shoulder and pointed ahead. 

Shiro barked out an annoyed, “What? ” before looking forward and realizing they were speeding directly towards the group of angry men from earlier.

Shiro looked at the pile of boards to the side and shouted back to Keith to hang on before shooting up and over the men by riding over one of the planks like a ramp. Keith let out a triumphant whoop and laughed at the stunned men they had now ditched in an alley twice before Shiro continued his rant.

“Bot fighting is illegal. At this rate you’re going to get yourself arrested!” At this point Shiro had redirected his focus entirely on getting them out of there, but knowing his brother he could practically feel Keith roll his eyes behind him.

“Bot fighting is not illegal.” His face scrunched up for a moment as his thought it over, “Betting on bot fighting, now that's... uh that's illegal.”

A stupid grin broke out onto his face as he stuck the wad of cash he’d won towards Shiro’s face so he could see, “But so lucrative! I'm on a roll, big brother! And there is no stopping me!” Keith’s cheers were cut off abruptly though as both of their vision flooded with blue and red lights and Shiro skidded the bike to a stop.

Shiro banged his head against the handlebars as the police cars cut them off at the end of the alley. And the next thing they knew, Keith was in a lone cell set aside for minors, (He considered himself an adult at this point, but at seventeen the law said otherwise) while a more than annoyed Shiro was crammed into a cell full of irritated bot fight gamblers.  
\---  
A couple of hours later and the two had finally been released. As they walked outside they saw Allura pacing back and forth on the sidewalk biting her nails and checking her phone every few seconds. Her eyes widened when she saw them and before they could say anything she had already run forward and wrapped her arms around their shoulders.

Her concerned accent broke forward as her hold around them tightened, “I was so worried. Are you two ok?”

Shiro relaxed into her hold and Keith smiled softly as they both spoke “We’re ok.” “We’re fine.” Allura sighed in relief and squeezed them one more time before holding them at arm’s length and smiling. That is right before she glared at them, grabbed them both by the ears and shouted while dragging them towards the car, “Then what in the damn hell were you two thinking?!"

To say that the ride back had been hell would have been an understatement. Shiro shrunk down in his seat next to Allura who was yelling at the both of them while Keith pointedly stared out the window at nothing from the back seat.

By the time they made it back to their small corner bakery, Allura was fidgeting with the keys and pulling at her hair that had already started to fall out of its messy bun.

“I just can’t believe you two. Do I know how any of your tech and smart stuff works? No. Did I know that I signed up for this when I met you? Oh hell no. Should I have probably known? Yes!” Allura stopped her screaming as she looked between the door and the two sheepish men behind her, “Uh… where was I going with this?”

Keith looked down at the ground and muttered out, “Sorry.” Meanwhile Shiro lightly hit Keith upside the head before smiling at Allura, “We’re sorry, but we’re grateful and love you Allura.”

Allura sighed and frustratedly moved from the key stuck in the door to say, “I love you too,” before pushing through the bakery door, letting the entrance bell softly ring. Allura charged towards the sweets display and continued to rant as she picked up a doughnut and looked back towards them, “I had to close up early because of you two felons. On beat poetry night!”

The two boys looked between her and the doughnut and she quirked up an eyebrow and replied, “Stress eating. Because of you two,” before taking another angry bite.

As she turned away, currently too distressed and too immersed in her doughnut to continue her lecture she called out for their cat to follow her. The two brothers shared a look as she yelled from the other room, “Neither of you are off the hook, do you hear me? …Also, this doughnut is really good!”  
\---  
The moment Keith got into his room he leapt for his computer and started typing. Shiro followed behind him and sighed as he hung the helmets up on the wall, “You better make this up to her before she stress eats everything in the bakery.”

Keith mumbled a sound of agreement as Shiro draped his jacket on the edge of the bed, too preoccupied with his computer to notice his brother slowly making his way towards him.

Shiro coughed from where he stood behind him and raised an eyebrow, “And you’ve learned your lesson right?” Keith’s eyes widened in surprise from realizing how close Shiro had gotten and quickly spun around to face his brother. “Uh, um yes. Absolutely.”

Shiro took one look at the screen Keith was attempting to hide before pinching the bridge of his nose and shooting a look at his sheepish younger brother, “You’re going bot fighting again, aren’t you?”

Letting out a small laugh, Keith got up from his chair and picked up his bot, “There’s a fight across town, if I book it I can still make it.” Shiro sighed and grabbed the back of Keith’s jacket, ignoring the sound of protest from his brother, “C’mon, when are you going to start doing something with that big brain of yours?”

Keith crossed his arms and replied with an unimpressed look. “What like go to college? We both know how that went last time. Just a bunch of cocky adults telling me stuff I already know and expecting me to dumb myself down to be like everyone else.”

Shiro stood in silence and closed his eyes before looking back at Keith with disappointment, “Unbelievable…” He wiped a hand across his face as he choked out, “Oh my god. What would mom and dad even say?”

Letting the smug look fall off of his face, Keith’s arms dropped to his side as he shrugged and turned away, “I don't know. They’re gone… Died when I was three, remember?”

Shiro’s expression went slack as he watched his brother walk away. Keith had already made it to the staircase before Shiro had an idea.

“Hey.”

Keith turned around just in time for Shiro to toss him his helmet, “Grab your bike, I’ll go with you.”

Keith looked down at his helmet before looking back up at his brother, face scrunched up in a mixture of confusion and doubt, “Really…? Why? You’ve spent the past three hours telling me not to bot fight. I thought you didn’t like it.”

Shiro smiled as he grabbed his own helmet and keys, “I don’t.” Keith tilted his head watching as Shiro headed down the stairway, “I can’t stop you from going, but I’m not going to let you go on your own.”

Deciding not to question it, Keith chased after his brother before he could change his mind. While Shiro didn’t make much sense, it’s not like he had anything to lose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it folks! Not sure how often I'll be updating but in all honestly I'm pretty dedicated to this AU so for all we know I could have this whole thing written pretty fast. Any and all comments, kudos and follows are appreciated as always. See you next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to see the nerd lab

“No. No no no no no. _No_. What are we doing at your nerd school? The bot fight is that way!”  
Shiro looked back at his brother from his bike and smirked before speeding towards the front building of Altea Academy. Keith grumbled as he followed close behind before parking his bike next to his brother’s.

Keith yanked off his helmet and exasperatedly gestured between the bright modern building and the town behind them while shooting Shiro a more than annoyed look. Shiro just chuckled and hung his helmet on the handlebars of his bike before heading off towards the building,

“C’mon, I just need to grab something.”

Keith just watched Shiro stride off and contemplated just getting back on his bike and going to the bot fight alone. It took a few moments of self conflict before he growled, set down his helmet and chased after his brother towards the doorway.

He shoved one hand into his pocket while the other swung lazily with a loose grip on his small bot as he followed Shiro through a series of mostly empty hallways. As they approached Shiro’s lab section, Keith sighed, “Is this going to take long?”

Shiro laughed and reached for the door handle, “Relax you big baby. We’ll be in and out.”

Softly throwing the door open and walking through, Shiro continued, “Besides, you’ve never seen my lab.”

Keith threw his hands up mockingly as he followed through the doorway into the lab, “Oh great, I get to see your nerd lab. Woah!”

Suddenly Keith was cut off, in both speech and movement as a figure blurred passed him and shouted, “Heads up!”

Keith clutched his chest and nearly dropped his bot in surprise. His eyes wandered over to the figure getting off of the bike that just cut him off while subconsciously trying to calm his startled heart.

The man got off of his bike and hung it up on a suspended hook. He started to walk away from the bike but not before pulling a wheel off of the bike and inspecting it. To Keith’s surprise after a quick glance the man simply shrugged and tossed the thin plate of a wheel behind him, letting it snap back into place on its own.  
Before he knew what he was doing, he started walking towards the bike as he looked around the room full of scientists experimenting with all kinds of futuristic machines and technology.

His gaze turned back to the bike in front of him and his curiosity immediately took over as he twisted and turned around the bike to inspect it. Letting his eyes fall down to the wheels he let out a small gasp as he passed his hand through the space between the bike’s frame and the plate-like wheels that floated in place, “Woah… Electro-mag suspension?”

Keith grinned to himself and watched the wheels slowly spin in place before a voice cut through his focus, “Hey.”

Keith jumped and turned to see the man from before standing there looking at him through a dark helmet. The man simply crossed his arms, “They call me the Tailor cause of how I thread the needle.”

The man looked up and down at Keith before questioning accusingly, “But who exactly are you?”

Keith stared back, choking on his own words and still mildly stunned when Shiro came up from behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder, “Lance! This is my brother, Keith.”

The man in front of him, now known as Lance, popped his helmet off of his head before holding it at his side while his free hand loosely brushed over the top of his head to fix his helmet hair.

Keith felt his face heat up as he looked at the dark skinned Latino man and suddenly knew his heart was beating faster for reasons other than the several off guard moments that had happened in the past two minutes.

Lance looked at Keith as he chewed his gum before quirking an eyebrow at the gaping man. He shrugged and blew a bubble before walking back towards his work, “Welcome to the nerd lab.”

Keith blushed in embarrassment and chuckled awkwardly, “Haha… yeah.”

Shiro leaned back against the counter as Keith stared off into nothing for a moment before regaining his senses. He turned back towards Lance and peered at the bike once more, “I’ve never seen electro-mag suspension on a bike before.”

Lance shrugged as he spun the wheel manually with the pedal, “Zero resistance, faster bike.” Lance grabbed the spinning plate with his hand and smirked at Keith before pulling the wheel out of its place, “ _But_ not fast enough.”

With that Lance threw the plate towards a nearby bin filled with similar plates with deadly accuracy. Keith’s eyes widened as the plate settled with the others before turning back towards Lance. Lance showed off a proud smile before walking away, “Not yet at least.”

Keith watched the boy walk away as he grabbed a new wheel and make adjustments before turning towards a larger man near a set of blue tubes.

The man looked up towards Keith and his eyes widened as he stuck a hand out, “Woah, woah, woah! Behind the line please!”

Keith stopped in his tracks as the man smiled sheepishly. Shiro was behind Keith again in an instance as he called out the the man, “Sup Hunk. This is my brother Keith.”

Hunk grinned as he slipped on his protective goggles, “Hello Keith, prepare to be amazed.”

With that, Hunk reached over towards his desk and grabbed an apple. He glanced between the apple and Keith thematically before tossing it casually Keith’s way. “Catch.”

As the apple flew through the space between the tubes a small cutting sound was the only give away as the apple suddenly shredded into paper thin sheets, now slowly floating to the ground like leaves.

Keith gasped and plucked one out of the air, “Wow…”

Hunk beamed with pride as his twisted a switch on one of the glass tubes before moving to his set of tools. A sheet of teal beams appeared between the two where the apple had been shredded, like a loom of light.

As he walked towards Hunk’s station he examined the now visible beams with awe, “Laser induced plasma?”

Hunk smiled as he carefully moved a piece into its place on his organized space “Oh yeah. With a _little_ magnetic confinement for uh,” Hunk gestured to his precious layout of tools and smiled, “ultra-precision.”

Keith chuckled and picked up one of the several small tools, “Wow, how do you find anything in this mess?”

Hunk chuckled before plucking the object out of Keith’s hand, “I have a system if you couldn’t tell.”

He stood back in content as he looked over the set up, “There’s a place for everything, and everything’s in its place.”

Suddenly out of nowhere Lance bumped into the table in a focused rush, grabbing a wrench and simply walking off, “Sorry, need this.”

Hunk gestured between the now off-set table full of tools and Lance as he quickly followed in pursuit, “Lance, c’mon man you can’t do that! This is anarchy! Society has rules!”

Hunk chased after Lance as he continued to shout in exasperation, while Keith and Shiro watched in amusement. Suddenly a shorter person pushing a large black orb with quite a bit of momentum rushed past Hunk and between the two brothers, “Excuse me! Coming through.”

The two brothers followed after them as they used their body against the counter to stop the momentum of the orb, pushing it into a premade slot in the ground. Sighing for a moment to catch their breath, they laid against the orb before looking up to see the two brothers watching them.

Pushing up their oversized glasses the person grinned and exclaimed, “Shiro!”

Their eyes drifted towards Keith and they smirked as they hopped up and walked around the orb towards him, “Keith, right? I’ve heard so much about you.”

The sly look on their face was enough for Keith to immediately turn towards Shiro who had taken sudden interest in looking at the wall or specifically anything that wasn’t facing Keith.

Before Keith could accuse his brother of anything he was pulled away by the excited scientist back towards the orb, “Anyways perfect timing.”

They pushed Keith towards the orb and he looked at it with interest, “That's a whole lot of tungsten carbide.”

They nodded proudly as they pushed up their glasses again, “Damn right, 400 pounds of it.” They grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the chemical table, “Come here, you're gonna love this.”

Keith watched as they moved between the colored chemicals with precise energy and focus, “A dash of perchloric acid, a smidge of cobalt, a hint of hydrogen peroxide, super-heated to 500 Kelvin, and…”

They popped a cap on top of the final vial before returning to the orb and spraying the smoky green substance around it. After placing down the vial behind them they reached towards a switch and the floating spray immediately was sucked towards the orbs surface.

Keith watched as they looked over the orb with pride, “Well what do you think?”

Not completely understanding the point of the project or use of materials Keith did his best to look impressed, “Uh it’s um… very green.”

The small scientist shot him a look before sticking a finger towards the orb, “Just watch. This is the best part.”

With that their finger connected with the orb and the next thing Keith knew, his vision was flooded with green.His jaw went slack and his eyes widened as he looked between the empty slot for the orb and the small scientist who was now covered head to toe in green dust.

“Woah…”

The smaller scientist smirked as they wiped the green dust off of their glasses, “I know.”

They stood with pride and crossed their arms after placing their glasses back onto their face, “Chemical metal embrittlement.”

Shiro chuckled as he wiped a bit of the remaining dust off of his hat, “Not bad Pidge.”

Keith looked up at his brother with mixed confusion, “Pidge? Hunk? _the ‘Tailor’_?”

Shiro lifted a hand in protest, “To be fair, no one here calls him that.”

From across the room Lance replied with a screech, “They will someday Shiro! Mark my damn words, one of these days!”

Shiro chuckles at this while Pidge just rolls their eyes, “Coran’s the one who comes up with the nicknames.”

Keith looked around the lab in confusion, “Uh… and who’s Coran?”

“This guy!”

Keith let out a small shriek that earned a snort of amusement from Pidge. He glared at Pidge before turning around to be face to face with a man in a robot suit. As if to prove his observation the man pulled back the head of the robot suit like a hood and offered his hand, 

“It’s ok, no need to be alarmed. This is merely just a suit! Not my real face and body at all. The name’s Coran.”

Coran and Keith shook hands for a moment before Coran grinned and slipped the top of his costume back over his hand and lifted a board, 

“School mascot by day, but by night…”

Coran proceeded to spin the sign around with enthusiastic energy before posing and letting the hood fall back again to reveal his face,

“I am also a school mascot!”

Keith watches the older man in amusement before finally deciding to ask, “So are you a returning student here? Or a teacher?”

Coran chuckled and walked over to the couch, “No, no. I’m not either actually. However! I am a _major_ science enthusiast. I’ve been trying to get Pidge here to create me a body so I can become a real life fighter robot.”

Coran lifted a comic book up towards Keith who looked up at Shiro and Pidge with a large amount of concern. Pidge just shook their head as he continued, “But Pidge here says that it’s not ‘actual science.’”

Pidge sighed as Coran air quoted with the costume hands while everyone else gather around the couch, “Sorry Coran, but it’s really not.”

Listening to this, Coran chuckled before looking back at them, “Oh please, young Pidge, I suppose you think that the shrink ray I asked Hunk here for isn’t ‘real’ either.”

Hunk just replied in mild amusement, “Nope.”

Coran sat up in his chair after scrunching his eyes up in though before exclaiming, “Well then what about invisible sandwich?” 

Keith chuckled at the enthusiasm of the strange man as he heard Shiro call his name from the other side of the room. He glanced over at his brother to see him motion for Keith to come over.

He glanced back towards the others who were listening to the crazy man’s ideas leisurely when he caught Lance staring his way. Keith noticed Lance’s flustered reaction in getting caught before he waved and headed towards his brother.

Shiro walked over towards a red box in the smaller room as Keith closed the double doors behind them, “So, what have you been working on then?”

Clearly up to something, Shiro pulled a roll of duct tape out of the box before walking over to Keith, “Here I’ll show you.”

Keith rolled his eyes and watched Shiro before mocking him half-heartedly, “C’mon duct tape? Hate to break it to you but that’s already been invent-”

Before Keith could finish Shiro slapped the tape onto his bare arm and yanked it off, leaving a bright red mark as Keith screeched, “Ouch! Dude what the hell? Why would you do… that.”

Shiro backed away as a multi-colored case against the wall unfolded and an inflated white lion rose out from inside of it. He gestured towards it as it started up, “ _This_ is what I’ve been working on.”

Keith looked at the balloon like figure in confusion before it started to walk forward. He tried his best not to smile at the cute swishing sounds it made when it walked.

The lion slowly made it’s way towards Keith until it bumped into the stool next to where Shiro was watching in anticipation. Pausing in its path, the robot blinked and slowly looked down at the stool before picking it up and placing it to it’s side.

It stared at the stool for a moment until it seemed happy with where it was before making it’s way back towards Keith. Shiro moved to stand behind it, an giddy smile attempting to break forward on his face.

The lion waved at Keith and a soft robotic voice came out, “Hello. I am Voltron. Your personal healthcare companion.I was alerted to the need for medical attention when you said, ‘ow.’”

Shiro gestured and mouthed along with the pre-programmed speech while Keith looked up in question, “A… robotic nurse.”

Nodding, Shiro pointed to the robot as it’s chest lit up and revealed a image of varying cartoon-like faces, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your pain?”

Keith sighed and gave Shiro a deadpan side glance, “Physical? Or emotional?”

Shiro pouted at the sarcasm while he stood behind the robot as it announced, “I will scan you now.”

Noticing the the electronic activity in Voltron’s eyes, Keith squinted at the robot as it scanned his body. Voltron continued as programmed, 

“You have a slight epidermal abrasion on your forearm. I suggest an anti-bacterial spray.”

Voltron moved forwards and picked up Keith’s arm with one hand and lifted a chubby finger with the other. Wanting to test out his brother’s creation, Keith interrupted the robot’s action, “Woah there, hold on a second. What’s in the spray?”

Voltron replied without hesitation as images appeared on it’s chest correlating with the information it began to provide, “The primary ingredient is bacitracin.”

Keith hissed as he pulled his arm out of the robot’s loose grip, “Aw that’s a bummer. I’m actually allergic to that.”

He smirked at his brother who simply smirked back as the robot once again replied without hesitation, 

“You are not allergic to bacitracin. You do have a mild allergy to peanuts.”

Keith’s eyes widened slightly in surprise at the quick programmed replies and thoroughness of the scanner as he stuck his arm back out and smiled at Shiro.

“Not bad… You’ve done some serious coding on this thing haven’t you?”

Shiro beamed at his brother’s interest as he reached forwards and tapped the robot’s sensor, revealing a set of blank chip slots and a single green chip with his name on it. 

“You know it. Programmed him with over 10,000 medical procedures. This chip, is what makes Voltron, _Voltron_.”

Keith nodded as he pushed the slot back into the robot’s chest and began to inspect his brother’s project. Walking around the squishy robot he poked at the back of it and peered over his shoulder at Shiro, “Vinyl?”

Shiro chuckled as he watched his brother’s growing curiosity, “Yeah, going for a non-threatening, _huggable_ kind of thing.”

“Looks like a walking plush toy.” Keith paused to look back up at the robot, “No offense.”

To both of their amusements, it simply replied, “I am a robot. I cannot be offended.”

Shiro leaned towards the robot and tapped on a small button, “It changes colors too. So far other than it’s default white I’ve just got black, red, blue, yellow, and green. But I thought it was a nice little touch.”

Keith nodded in agreement before he leaned forward, rising up on his toes slightly to get a closer look at the eyes that had caught his attention earlier, 

“Hyperspectral cameras?”

“Yep.”

He peered into the eyes for a few more moments before murmuring, “huh…” Keith looked down and the inside of the robot immediately grabbed his attention. He shoved his face into the vinyl to get a closer look and did he best to speak while observing as close as he could get,

“Titanium skeleton?”

From behind him Shiro watched, “Nah, carbon fiber.”

Keith nodded in understanding as his eyes roamed the skeleton set up of the robot. “Ah, right. Even lighter…. Holy shit, killer actuators! Where did you get those?”

Shiro moved around his work space casually, “Oh you know. Just machined them right here, in-house.”

Keith pulled away from the robot in surprise and looked at his brother who was leaning on his desk. “Really?”

“Yep. He can lift 1,000 pounds.”

Keith looked back at the puffy lion-like figure in awe, “Shut up.”

Sensing a pause in conversation, Voltron proceeded with its programmed care, “You have been a good boy. Have a lollipop.” With that, the hand slide a hidden compartment open and a lollipop came out.

As Keith took it, Voltron continued, “I cannot deactivate until you say you are satisfied with your care.”

As he popped the sucker into his mouth he grinned and said, “Well then, I’m satisfied with my care.”

Shiro moved towards him with pride as Voltron slowly made it’s way back towards its compact case. “One day, he’s going to help a lot of people.”

Keith smiled at his brother before turning back to watch the robot deflate into its multi-colored box. “Hey, what kind of battery does it use?”

“Lithium ion.”

Keith shrugged, “You know, super-capacitors would charge way faster.”

Shiro looked at the robot and replied with an interested, “Huh.” Just as they both heard a knock from the doorway.

They turned to see an older man standing there smiling, “Burning the midnight oil, Shirogane?”

Shiro brightened and tapped on Keith’s shoulder before moving towards his computer, “Hey Professor. I was actually just finishing up.”

Keith walked towards the man in the doorway as he grinned, “You must be Keith. Bot-fighter, right?”

Keith nodded as the man continued to talk, “When my daughter was younger, that's all she wanted to do too.”

Noticing the small fighter bot dangling in Keith’s hand he gestured towards it and looked at him expectantly, “May I?”

Keith hesitated for a moment before handing the older man the small bot, “Uh.. sure.”

The man lifted the bot closer to his face in observation as he backed towards the hallway with Keith following behind him propping the door open while Shiro finished shutting down.

“Hm. Magnetic-bearing servos.”

Keith nodded as he watched the man’s interest in the bot, “Pretty sick, huh? Wanna see how I put 'em together?”

Shiro knocked on the window and called out to Keith, “Hey genius. He’s the one who invented them.”

Keith’s eyes widened before his head whipped back towards the older man who was now observing the small robot with an amused smile tugging at his lips.

Keith stuttered out in awe, “Y-you're Alfor Callaghan? Like, as in, the Callaghan-catmull spline, and Callaghan's ‘laws of robotics?’”

The professor laughed as he began to walk down the hallway, “That's right. Ever think about applying here? Your age wouldn't be an issue.”

As he pressed the button for the elevator Shiro cut in with a teasing grin on his face, “Oh, I don't know about that Professor. He's pretty serious about his career in bot-fighting.”

Keith quickly followed his brother as Alfor stepped into the elevator holding the door open, “Well, only kinda serious.”

Alfor looked down at the small bot as he handed it back to Keith. “Well, I can definitely see why. With your bot, winning must come easy.”

Taking his bot back into his hands Keith mumbled, “Yeah, I mean I guess.”

“Well, if you like things easy, then my program isn't for you. We push the boundaries of robotics here. My students go on to shape the future.”

The professor looked up at Shiro and the two shared a knowing looked as they glanced back at Keith who was currently staring down at his bot with furrowed eyebrows. He looked up at Professor Alfor as the professor let go of the elevator doors.

“Nice to meet you, Keith. Good luck with the bot-fights.”

After that Keith followed Shiro back towards the front of the Academy silently as he stared down at his bot and occasionally lifted his sight towards the labs they passed by. When they got back to their bikes Shiro smiled as he put on his helmet and taunted at his brother.

“You know we burned a lot of time in there. We gotta hurry if you want to catch that bot-fight.”

Finally snapping out of his daze Keith looked up at Shiro with a spark behind his eyes. “Oh _fuck_ that! Shiro. I have to go here.”

Keith paced back and forth while his brother fought the urge to burst into laughter. Keith stopped and looked at the academy.

“If I don't go to this nerd school, I'm gonna lose my mind…”

Keith turned towards his brother with determination,

“How do I get in?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey hey. So just a little heads up to avoid confusion, because of the way I went into this uh, Alfor and Allura will not be related. There will most likely be an oc as the part of the daughter. Which should be fun because I've never done an oc in a story before. Probably gonna be like a "sister" version of Allura but we'll see. Also if you'd like to send me a message you can check me out at zeldachanchanchanchanchanchan.tumblr.com Anyways! Any and all kudos, comments, and follows are appreciated. See you next chapter!


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